COMMONS NEEDS TO FOCUS ON MORE SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

What a kerfuffle this past week in Parliament over the actions of Dr. Keith
Martin, Alliance MP for Esquimault-Juan de Fuca! You would think he had
shot the Easter bunny, judging by the cries of anguish from all the other MPs.

Martin, frustrated by the Liberal quashing of his private member's bill to
decriminalize marijuana after years of effort, did the
unthinkable. He picked up the mace, the symbol of the authority of the
Speaker and the independence of Parliament, and waved it about briefly.
That's a no-no. Nobody touches the mace, except the sergeant-at-arms.

Well, finally here was an issue all Parliamentarians could agree on. MPs
were unsparing in telling each other how shocked, appalled, and outraged
they were by this breach of protocol. The Tories and the NDP criticized
Martin -- even the House Leader of the Bloc Quebecois patriotically
defended the Crown's sacred prerogative -- and forced him to make a formal
apology on Wednesday.

Martin, in turn, accused the Chretien government of being "fascist" for
derailing his bill, a move he characterized as undemocratic.

It's easy to understand Martin's frustration; during the current

Parliament 235 private members' bills have been introduced, and none has
made it into law. All the power is in the hands of the Liberal cabinet, and
it decides what is important. The Canadian Alliance estimates this process
has so far cost taxpayers $45 million.

Martin's antics point to a real failing in this Parliament -- MPs who are
trying to express the will of their constituents have no chance to effect
change unless it is ordained by the Liberal cabinet.

But the MPs' antics reveal another failing: Of all the important issues
which need to be addressed in this country, our highly paid
Parliamentarians chose to waste their time scoring political points over a
very small issue.

The Senate is no better: Three recent bills have leapfrogged ahead of much
more substantial documents and recently been passed into law. One was the
creation of a parliamentary poet laureate, the second was the selection of
a day to honour Sir John A. MacDonald and Sir Wilfred Laurier. The third
was to designate Canada's official horse.

Not only do we have an insulated, arrogant Liberal government picking and
choosing what it thinks is important, we have impotent and ineffective
backbenchers and senators using up their time -- and our money -- arguing
over matters of little consequence.

These are the same people who last year voted themselves substantial
raises, remember? That was the only other time in recent memory when they
all agreed upon anything.

This is precisely the sort of nonsense voters need to remember when they
next go to the polls. Otherwise, we could be saddled in future with a
parliamentary hip-hop artist, a day to honour Joe Clark and an officially
designated cow. All of which might be nice things to have, but this country
has more pressing needs at the moment.